Über das Kunstwerk

Forest Villa, Kunstwerk von Kilian Eng

Forest Villa by Swedish artist Kilian Eng calls to mind the work of American film maker David Lynch. As in Lynch's movies Lost Highway and Mulholland Drive Eng presents a realistic but also dreamlike scene that draws the viewer in by evoking curiosity and stirring emotion.

When talking about his creative process, the graphic artist and illustrator Kilian Eng explains that in his work he likes to tell stories and subsequently invites people to make up their own stories in response. "Even if an image is shown as a single piece and not part of a series, both I and the viewer need to be able to fantasize about what might happen before and after the exact moment frozen in the picture. This creative engagement helps to give substance to the worlds my pictures depict and lets me create new scenarios."

As with dreamscapes, Kilian Eng’s art can seem simultaneously threatening and welcoming. Much of Eng's inspiration is derived from his interest in surrealism, science fiction, theater scenography as well as from architecture and the urban landscape. "I’m very interested in creating environments in my work. I’m fascinated by architecture - ancient, futuristic, fantastic - so I often incorporate buildings or structures. The characters that inhabit the pictures are often set down in these unexpected surroundings."

The analog, sometimes retro feel of Kilian Eng's art is deceptive. He works in a completely digital medium and deliberately adds the anachronistic effects via the computer. The precise texture of paper, the range of colors and the careful balances between light and dark are all carefully selected and applied. "I like the digital work process,” says Eng, “and all the possibilities it offers to play with colors and to create more easily."